Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stake Raised by Resonant Capital Advisors LLC

Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $137.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $141.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $129.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.